Redemption Point

A bright new star of crime fiction ― inventive, thrilling, and totally addictive.

A masterful novel that teases right up to its final page. Definitely a writer to watch.

A year ago, Ted Conkaffey, a Sydney drug squad detective, was accused and remanded for trial in the case of young Claire Bingley, a teenager who was abducted and assaulted.
Ted didn’t do it.
With not enough evidence to prosecute but disgraced in the eyes of the department and public, Ted retired and moved north to Crimson Lake.
He’s looking for redemption.

It’s there he met Amanda Pharrell and teamed-up in a P.I. agency.
She’s quirky, brilliant, resourceful and funny.
She is also a joy to read. Amanda is an ex-con who has served a 10-year sentence for murder, even though it was an accident.
She too is seeking redemption.

When new evidence about Ted’s case is presented to him and with Claire’s father, Dale, suddenly in the picture, Ted hopes to find the answers he’s been searching for.

Meanwhile, two young bartenders have been murdered at The Barking Frog. It’s a violent mess and there’s gonna be many suspects.
Amanda and Ted have been enlisted to assist new Crimson Lake Detective Inspector Pip Sweeney on her first major investigation.
Who knows where the twists will lead?

I liked the way POVs shifted between first-person for Ted and “The Diary” and third-person for Amanda and Pip.

There just might be redemption for our heroes…but at what cost?

This is a superbly conceived and written, top-notch thriller that refuses to be put down all the way to the explosive twin climaxes!

Read Crimson Lake #1, also. It’s a win-win!

TW: Again this book mention the crime on minors.

I really enjoyed the last book, but I thought this book was even better than the last.

I like the growth we get with Ted and Amanda. I like the friendship we get with these two, they are an odd pair but yet work together so great.

Ted is still trying to hide to stay out the public eye as much as he can, but of course things are not in his favor n some things. In last book I liked Ted but he still gave me a bit if the creeps at times. He is doing much better in this book and maybe even working towards his peace. Like I said I liked the growth of his character and it is a big part of the story.

Of course I liked Amanda, she has her issues and we learn a bit more about her but she also is a bit of comic relief at times.

This book kept me captivated to the last page, it is suspenseful, had so many twist and turns. Again some things were easy to predict nut the big and fun things… not at all and had me in awe.

We meet some new and interesting people, that fit in m opinion right in with Ted and Amanda.

I loved the landscape and surroundings of Australia.

Overall I really loved this book and highly recommended it to anyone that enjoys thrillers.

I rate it 5

This was a great book! I cannot understand why this series isn’t more popular because it is absolutely fantastic. This is the second book in the Crimson Lake series which is probably best when read in order if at all possible. This book hooked me from the first page and never let up. I found this book to be a very enjoyable read.

Ted Conkaffey once worked as a police detective. That was in his life before he was accused of kidnapping and raping young Claire Bingley. Before his life fell apart. Now he lives alone caring for a flock of geese and working with private detective, Amanda Pharrell. Most of Australia thinks he is guilty including Claire’s father who shows up at his house ready to settle the score.

Amanda and Ted are called to work on a double murder at a local tavern and end up working closely with the police. Were the two young employees murdered during a robbery or is there something else going on? Ted is dividing his time between this case and the new developments in his own case. Both cases were incredibly well-done and I was equally invested in each of them. I really felt for Ted as he dealt with the stress of finding the real abductor and doing his part to work on the double murder case with Amanda.

This book was very well written. The characters are wonderful and flawed. Ted has been through a lot and it is easy to feel for him. Amanda doesn’t follow society’s rules but her unique view of the world seems to give her an edge in solving cases. I thought that the two mysteries worked well in this book and were nicely balanced. The pacing was expertly done and I found this book to be quite the page-turner.

I would highly recommend this book to others. This is a wonderful series filled with unique and interesting characters and a pair of compelling mysteries. I can’t wait to read more from this talented author.

I won a copy of this book from Forge Books via Bookish First.

Vivid Writing, Interesting Characters, but the Plot Was Disappointing

Redemption Point has two plot lines, each getting about the same play in numbers of pages. First, there is the wrongly-accused, former Australian police detective now turned PI Ted Conkaffey. He would like to clear his name but feels it would be too painful, and so, he struggles to live with the shame and guilt until it blows over. Eventually, he gets nudged into the investigation of his own crime, setting up the finale. Parallel to that thread, Ted and Amanda Pharrell, Ted’s quirky partner in the PI business, get hired to investigate a double homicide at a local bar. On it, they work with Pip Sweeney, a newly minted, Detective Inspector who is in charge of the case and who is battling her own emotional demons.

The book contains many beautifully written scenes with this cast of damaged characters, but unfortunately, those evocative bits of prose implement a plot that’s poorly conceived and rife with implausibility. Take for instance the living arrangements of Ted Conkaffey and Dale Bingley, the father of the girl Ted supposedly attacked. They live together. If that isn’t strange enough, Dale learns Ted’s email password. Ted knows but doesn’t change it, making the end of this part of the story totally predictable. Or another example – Pip has inherited a double homicide that brings in detectives from neighboring cities. But who does she bond with? An accused and much hated pedophile (Ted) and a nearly equally disliked, convicted murderer (Amanda). Why author Fox created this unlikely team only becomes clear in the end, but it’s not nearly worth the cost in lost plot credibility.

But while the plot disappointed, the writing didn’t. From the opening line – “There were predators beyond the wire” – I was hooked. And although authors spend a disproportionate amount of time on the first chapter, the writing remained vivid throughout the novel. There is, for example, a scene where Pip and Amanda, the latter immaculately dressed in an evening grown, go on a girl’s night out. Amanda doesn’t like cars, so they get to their destination on bicycles, Amanda riding barefoot through the rain forest with her high heels hooked on the handlebar. Fox’s writing does complete justice to this bizarre scene, painting an image that’s hard to forget. The way the characters are developed in the book is interesting more than exceptional. Amanda, for example, is something of a crime-solving savant who lacks a grasp of social graces and human emotion. It makes her behavior entertaining, if not exactly easy to understand. And every main character having emotional skeletons was a bit over the top; a character without a background to hide might have ended up being the most memorable, if there had been one. Similarly, pacing has its good and bad points. Each scene flows well, but after a while, its clear that many do almost nothing to move the plot forward.

Overall, readers who like vividly-written, character-driven mysteries, particularly ones featuring emotionally damaged persons, should pick up a copy of Redemption Point. But if you’re looking for a tightly woven plot as part of the read, this book probably won’t satisfy.

Normally, I don’t read anything involving children and crimes against them. I almost put this one down when I realized what it was about, but I didn’t for some reason. The main character swears and explains his innocence. Now, I want him to catch the guy who actually did commit this crime. He’s a sympathetic character. He’s also brave to continue in his current line of work, with a convicted felon for a partner, nonetheless. He’s surrounded by all encompassing disgust and hatred and ill will all directly aimed at him. I get it. I feel the same way about people who commit this type of crime, but imagine facing that and knowing you are innocent. Mass opinions are very difficult to change. I really hope he is able to turn the tide and prove his innocence. I definitely want to read the rest of Redemption Point.

Redemption Point is the second book in the Crimson Lake series and is told from multiple points of view as opposed to book 1 which gave us only Ted’s view. We get to see the story from Ted, Amanda, and Sweeney and I enjoyed the way that Fox did that because each of them has their own personality.

Amanda appears to not have a care, after murdering a girl in her past and having the secret finally come out, she’s pretty easy going. She has a few quirks, such as rhyming, and saying whatever is on her mind, she makes for a really fun character. Ted is still trying to solve who really committed the abduction that landed him in prison for 8 months. He’s a good balance to Amanda and they make a great team. Sweeney is the lead investigator on their newest case, and while all this is very new to her, she knows enough to lean on the people that can help her figure out what has happened.

Fox knows how to tell a good story while keeping the reader guessing. While I had an idea of “who done it” and had several of my own suspects, the journey to get there was fun. We had a new character appear in Dale, the father of the victim that Ted was supposed to have been involved in. He’s not a standout character, but he makes for a good thorn in Ted’s side. Fox has also brought back Khalid, the gangster we met in book 1 who believes in Ted’s innocence. I think having people believe in Ted made the story a little less stressful. Of course, the geese are ever present and I think they add a nice touch to round out the story.

This is such a fun story, from the suspense aspect to the humor that Amanda adds, that it makes for a great read. I’m definitely looking forward to more from this great duo and to see who Fox will bring in next.